Zurich - Swimming Lesson in Basel

Me at Start of Insel-Ligerz Swim (No Basel Photo Available!)

I’m actually already back in Egypt, but I have a backlog of things to talk about and sooner or later I will be in a dry period where I’m struggling to think what to write, so I’ll just pretend I’m still in Switzerland for now.

In addition, I thought I’d take a break from describing all my trips before this becomes a travelogue.

Anyway, as well as doing the lake swims, I’d also taken some swimming lessons. There are two main online swimming schools with different philosophies – Swim Smooth and Total Immersion. I can’t quite remember what got me interested in Total Immersion (TI), despite my initial interest in Swim Smooth. I think maybe I’d seen it mentioned here and there on the internet; I was initially a bit put off because it seemed rather evangelical in its approach.

However, the more I looked into it, the more attractive it sounded. I was drawn to the claim that it focused on efficiency rather than effort and that you shouldn’t practice struggle. I had given up trying to do better at one point simply because I found I wasn’t enjoying swimming once I pushed myself all the time to go faster; in retrospect, it seemed more sensible to focus on efficiency and streamlining rather than to thrash my arms about more quickly. Also, the videos made the TI swimming style for freestyle look very elegant and effortless; as time went on, I decided I wanted to look good while I swam as well rather than it being obvious when you see me that I'm struggling.

After a lot of time thinking about it and watching videos on YouTube, I finally bought the TI book and accompanying videos online. I got so far with the videos and managed to decrease the number of strokes I needed for each length and finally managed to establish a bit of a glide. However, I was still slow, and I couldn’t get the recovery arm right (ie, the arm's position when it is out of the water); this wasn’t helped by the fact that I can’t see what my recovery arm is doing (because my head is down in the water and my arm is up in the air). I posted a video of my swimming (from my May trip to Egypt) on the TI facebook page and got some helpful feedback from coaches all telling me to improve my recovery. I tried my best, but my speed got slower and slower the more and more I tried. It was dispiriting.

I finally decided to take a lesson and decided it should be with someone qualified to teach TI. There’s only one person in Switzerland, and she is based in Basel. Eventually, we agreed on a date and she sent me directions to the pool where we would meet. I was a bit dismayed when I saw that the bus didn’t stop just outside; that spells trouble.

Anyway, I managed to walk in the wrong direction when I got off the bus (it was confusing because the map seemed to indicate I should go one way and a street sign indicated another way). It was a very hot day, and after a while of wandering and wondering, I needed to phone the coach to say I was on my way but lost.

However, I wasn’t too sure of her phone number and needed to check emails and websites to see if I could find out what it was. I couldn’t read the phone in the bright sunshine so I had to find a bit of shade. I stood by a car to try and look at my phone, but a man asked me what I was doing because I was on his property. Whoops. I asked for directions to the pool, he helped me, and I went on my way and had to wait until I could find another bit of shade before I could phone. By this time, I was already quite late. Stress!

When I finally found her number and called, she didn’t seem to understand how I could have possibly got lost. She said she’d wait for me at the entrance. When I got there, I looked around, and decided she must be inside the entrance. I wanted to pay for my ticket using my debit card, but for some reason it wouldn’t work. I got a bit flustered and starting digging around for some spare cash at which point the woman standing behind the cashier asked me if I was Fiona. It turned out to be my coach. So, there I was caught in the act of abject failure yet again!

My coach showed me the way to the changing rooms and I proudly showed her my padlock that I could use on the lockers, but when I came to use it, it was too thick to go through the hole for the lock. It wasn’t my day. She directed me to the lockers by the cashier's desk to store my valuables, but they required 1 CHF and for some reason I had only 1 EUR. Fortunately, my coach was able to persuade the person at the front desk to trade it for me. I felt I was being a nuisance. Then, while changing, I asked how to get to the toilets (first door on the right – how hard can that be?), but I ended up in the showers instead. I hope my coach didn’t see me. I must have looked like a complete idiot.

The lesson itself was good, although I think I didn’t really give the responses she was expecting ("can you feel your leg moving down? no? well it is is! Try again"). She videoed me before my swim and then we focused on the two-beat kick. I knew my kicking was bad as I can never be bothered with it. I don’t know why I didn’t try to learn the kick before; I think it just looked too daunting as you have to time it properly with the correct arm, so it was good to have someone to teach it to me. I was also surprised to learn that I was over-rotating (having previously not rotated at all). 

TI has a philosophy of hands-on help, so at one point, my coach grabbed my legs and moved them how they were supposed to go - it felt really bizarre, but after a number of repeats and further explanations I could sort of see what she was trying to get at. It just didn't come naturally to me, so it was all a bit of an eye opener.

I’ll write more later on my progress, but despite looking like a complete idiot, I did find that having a teacher is invaluable.